During the summer, Earl Wallace had to make an effort to suppress his irritation.

This was because before summer arrived, the Disciplinary Committee had planned to settle Ryan’s case. But contrary to his expectations, the committee’s convocation was repeatedly postponed, and the disciplinary action against Ryan was continuously delayed.

He knew very well who was responsible for this.

‘That fox-like Baron Stanford!’

Baron Stanford had not only desperately smuggled Ryan away but also tried his best to win over the committee members.

Because of this, not just one or two people had switched to his side during the summer.

Earl Wallace gritted his teeth.

‘Anyone would think Ryan was that old man’s illegitimate child!’

Once when they ran into each other at Army Headquarters, Baron Stanford had openly clicked his tongue in front of him and admonished:

“I’ve heard you’ve been troubled by your son’s affairs lately. If only all sons were as good as Colonel Ryan Wilgrave, there would be nothing to worry about.”

Earl Wallace couldn’t say anything in response.

The son Baron Stanford was referring to was Henry Wallace, born between him and his wife, Vivian.

He was a son born sickly. Because of this, he had suffered from various ailments since childhood.

Vivian adored her first son terribly. Even after their second son was born, Vivian’s attention remained focused solely on Henry, her firstborn.

“It’s rare for the firstborn in the Wallace family to be a boy. That means Henry is very special. So I hope you’ll take particular care when dealing with Henry.”

Vivian demanded that Earl Wallace treat their son with reverence, as if she were giving orders to a tutor.

Earl Wallace couldn’t say anything about his wife’s attitude.

He had married into the family and inherited the earldom.

The Queen had promised that the succession rights to the Wallace family belonged to Vivian, who was the legitimate heir of the family.

This meant that if Vivian declared divorce and remarried, he would have to step down from his position as earl. Albion still prioritized succession rights for men.

However, since the Wallace family had historically lacked male heirs, the monarch had traditionally allowed the Wallace earldom to be passed on to whomever the eldest daughter of the house chose.

So Earl Wallace had to avoid upsetting his wife and son to maintain his position.

‘Come to think of it, Ryan’s birth was her fault too.’

Although he was called Earl Wallace, it was only within the limits Vivian permitted.

“You gave the Shenkwood hunting grounds to Viscount Campbell as a gift! I’ve already announced that I’m hosting a gathering there this summer!”

Vivian had given away his favorite hunting grounds to someone else without saying a word. Earl Wallace was furious and confronted Vivian about it. She looked at him coldly and replied:

“Dear, the Shenkwood hunting grounds belong to the Wallace family.”

With those words, Earl Wallace understood her meaning. What belonged to the Wallace family was hers, so he had no right to question her decisions.

“D*mn it! Do I have to live like this for the rest of my life?”

He had naturally assumed that he would have free rein over everything in the Wallace family, but contrary to his expectations, Vivian only treated him properly on the surface while never allowing him to touch anything belonging to the family.

Unable to satisfy his greed, Earl Wallace left the capital for the villa of another noble with whom he was acquainted. He could receive better treatment outside the Wallace family.

Ryan’s mother was merely a maid he had briefly embraced during the summer at that villa.

He didn’t think it was particularly problematic. Wasn’t it common for other nobles to enjoy themselves in similar ways?

So when the woman became pregnant and came to him with the child claiming it was his, he had his discreet servants beat her severely and throw her out.

He was satisfied when he heard that the maid had fled with the baby in tears. If she had any sense, she would never again claim that it was his child.

She would have realized that next time, she would truly die.

After that, just as Earl Wallace expected, the maid never showed herself again. And after calming down somewhat, Earl Wallace returned to the capital and lived as his wife directed.

During that time, Henry was born to him and Vivian.

The child was sickly, but Earl Wallace thought it was actually for the best.

Because Vivian was constantly preoccupied with Henry, she didn’t monitor him as closely as before.

Instead, from that time on, Vivian kept by her side a descendant of a fortune teller who was said to have served the family for generations.

It was on that fortune teller’s advice that she took Henry to the countryside, which made the Earl hope that the fortune teller would remain by Vivian’s side and stay buried in the countryside forever.

However, when Henry turned seven, he fell gravely ill, to the point where his life was in danger.

Earl Wallace thought Vivian would be completely preoccupied with caring for Henry, but she suddenly came up to the capital and told him:

“I know you have an illegitimate child. The fortune teller says that child can take away the devil’s touch that interferes with our Henry’s fate.”

Earl Wallace was terrified to learn that his wife knew about his illegitimate child.

If it were anyone else, it might not matter, but Vivian had the right to demand a divorce from him based on that fact alone.

Earl Wallace immediately bowed his head deeply and did as Vivian instructed.

Find that illegitimate child. And place that illegitimate child in the monastery the fortune teller had mentioned until they came of age.

So Earl Wallace searched for the whereabouts of the maid he had beaten and thrown out long ago.

She had become the wife of a gravedigger. And the garbage named illegitimate child, whom he had never considered his own, whom he had abandoned, was living under the name Ryan Wilgrave.

That was the first day he properly faced Ryan.

And the next day, he sent Ryan to a monastery in the harshest region of Albion.

He wasn’t supposed to die. Nor did he wish for him to live long. Just until twenty years old.

He had planned to get rid of him somehow when he reached the age the fortune teller had mentioned, but Ryan escaped from the monastery two months before his twentieth birthday. When they met again, he had become a war hero who could not be treated carelessly.

‘D*mn it!’

Recalling the past, Earl Wallace glared at the fireplace again.

A few weeks ago, his subordinate planted at Army Headquarters had succeeded in intercepting a letter that had arrived addressed to Ryan’s mission name.

‘Eloise… or something like that.’

Anyway, it was a woman’s name. So Earl Wallace thought it must be a code name used by Army Headquarters.

Since joining the military, Ryan had never kept a woman by his side. There was no way someone like that would suddenly start exchanging letters with a woman.

So after intercepting the letter, he had casually tossed it aside.

If the contents of the envelope concerned military matters, it would be troublesome if he were accused of being a spy for opening it.

So he planned to intercept it and then throw it back somewhere in Ryan’s office after some time had passed.

But recently, Vivian had come up to the capital and scolded him.

“My Henry is still suffering because of that bastard! Even though I made you a member of the Disciplinary Committee, you can’t properly punish that man?”

She had thoroughly reprimanded Earl Wallace for his incompetence before leaving.

Right after she left, unable to contain his anger, he threw everything he could grab into the fireplace.

The letter that had arrived for Ryan was burned at that time.

‘Who cares.’

Lost letters were a common occurrence. So that letter had never arrived in the first place.

Knock knock.

At the sound of someone knocking on the door, Earl Wallace spoke without turning his head.

“Come in.”

At his words, the door opened and his secretary entered. Earl Wallace folded the newspaper and asked:

“Well, is there any news about that Ryan fellow?”

The secretary bowed deeply and answered.

“He is currently in the capital of Gilia, sir.”

At those words, a smile spread across Earl Wallace’s face.

The capital of Gilia. A place outside of Albion. It would actually be easier to target Ryan there. In fact, he wouldn’t even need to target him.

‘Just leak the fact that Ryan Wilgrave is there…’

The Gilians would take care of Ryan themselves.

* * *

At the same time.

Eloise.

Sitting in a small tavern in a corner of the Gilian capital, Ryan was unconsciously writing the name of the person he missed on the dust that had settled on the table.